SAN ANTONIO — The Spurs were unable to extend their 2021-22 season after losing to the Pelicans, 113-103, on the road in the NBA Play-In game.
Devin Vassell had 23 points to lead the team while Jakob Poeltl added 16 points and nine rebounds in the loss. Keldon Johnson had an off shooting night going 6-20 from the field including 0-5 from the three-point line. Dejounte Murray went 5-19 from the field in 34 minutes finishing with 16 points.
The Spurs finished their season to 34-48 and will now shift focus to the offseason.
Here's a sample of what the teams said after the game courtesy of the Spurs and Pelicans.
SPURS
"They never quit all year long and tonight was another example of that. We played poorly for three quarters. The three best players for New Orleans all played great," Gregg Popovich said. "If that happens, you're going to lose if you don't match that. For three quarters I think they outplayed us. They were more physical."
"We take the good and the bad. You learn from it. I think, towards the end, we fought, but they had a lot of guys play well," Murray said. "Obviously, we had guys play well, but we also had guys not shoot well, starting with myself."
“It’s tough. That Pelicans team has some players on it with a lot of playoff experience. I hope we can just watch how they approached it, learn from it, and get better this summer," Josh Richardson said.
"We've come a long way as a team," Poeltl said. "Unfortunately, we couldn't really get it together tonight. We didn't find our flow until late in the game."
"Obviously, we didn't get the result we wanted but we can look at this game, watch film, and see what we got to work on," Vassell said. "I think we've progressed a lot. I think we've started to learn what it takes to win close games and what it takes to be successful."
"We watched a little bit of film," Lonnie Walker IV said. "We have a great set of players. This is nothing but experience for us and growth. We know what we're capable of."
PELICANS
Willie Green
Jonas Valanciunas
CJ McCollum
Twitter: @KENS5, @JeffGSpursKENS5